Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: April 8, 2007
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said in
an exclusive interview to Times Now that Taliban leader Mullah Omar is in
Pakistan. The Afghan President was in India to attend the 14th Saarc summit
held in New Delhi on April 3 and 4.
Karzai said he knows it for a fact that Mullah
Omar is hiding in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province.
"Very, very good Afghan sources, Taliban sources, people who have met
him have told me this," Karzai told Arnab Goswami, adding that he has
passed on the information to US and Pakistani authorities.
Mullah Omar, who leads the Taliban's terror
campaign, has been on the run since the government of the Taliban militia
was toppled by the invading US-led coalition in 2001.
Without naming Pakistan, Karzai said the country
is behind all terrorist activities in Afghanistan. He made pointed allegations,
calling the country a state which sponsors cross-border terrorism.
"We should not point fingers, but at
the same time you want to tell the truth, you want to remind that please brother,
my friend, let's not do that, we should not use extremism as a policy "Karzai
said.
Voicing his strong stance against terrorism,
Karzai said: "In parts close to the borders of Pakistan, schools are
being burnt, people are being killed... even elderly women are being killed.
Where do these killers come from?"
Karzai was all praise for Western countries
for assisting Afghanistan. "The West is helping us with resources and
money The West has made available their sons and daughters in Afghanistan."
(Hamid Karzai's interview will be aired on
Times Now in Frankly Speaking with Arnab on Sunday, April 8, at 2:30 pm and
8:30 pm)
